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Peace Be With You in 2019

On the precipice of 2019, before we delve into the thickets of the everyday for another year, we consider what faces us. We may be surveying a clear-cut trail that marches off to the horizon, but more likely we see a wilderness. For some it is covered with fog, for others with threatening storm clouds, for a few with dancing sunshine. Regardless, no one knows truly what lies ahead. We all stand looking at an unknown future, and for you, as it is for everyone, that produces anxiety. Every one of us has anxiety at some level about the future. We may not feel it exactly now, or we may be embroiled in the risen blood pressure, sleeplessness, and aching shoulders that accompany it.

As I’ve interacted with a lot of people over these final weeks of 2018, over and over again, I have found the need to pray peace and mercy into their lives—into YOUR lives! I’ve considered many different year-beginning posts, and this is what I felt Jesus wanted to speak into you and your year:

Peace be with you.

Peace be with you, now, and in all the “now’s” that follow, for each step of the journey into the year—for the trembling tiptoes, the aching shuffle, the crippled effort, the leaping plunge, the daring stride, the mundane pace, the exuberant skip, the delighted dance—peace be with you.

My friends, sometimes we have to close our eyes to the vastness before us to better sense who is with us now. There is much to distract, overwhelm, or terrify our hearts when we try to take it all in at once. So, if you are looking ahead into 2019 and it raises your heart rate with fear, close your eyes, breathe deep breaths, and consider that Jesus is looking at you with love. Whatever 2019 holds, it is a sequence of “now” moments. If we can meet Jesus in our present moments, our future will unfold with peace. Don’t look for him in the future, look for him right now.

My 2018 was full of new and challenging things, full of
anxieties and new trajectories, each of which tugged at me to rocket off into an
orbit in order to see it from all angles and gain control of these unseen
possibilities. It was a constant struggle despite the excitement of the good
things happening. If I choose this, then what are all the possible outcomes? If
I choose that, then how will that affect this? If I could just see what’s next,
then I could make a decision now!

It took a lot of courage to still myself in the midst of this, to exercise my will to trust God in all things by forcing a landing in my comfortable orange chair, feet flat, deep breath in and out, the words “Be still and know that I am God” hanging on each motion of my lungs (Inhale—be, exhale—still, and so on) for five minutes. (I wrote more on this in my post on “Courage Amid the Worries”)

Be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

I discovered that I truly do have an ever-present help in
trouble (Psalm 46:1), and even more cherished, that I am beloved. This simple
practice that is now daily has done more for my sense of God’s personal love
and delight in me, for assuredness that he is for me and with me, and that he
is trustworthy, than any other practice. This has become foundational for my
days and I pray it becomes yours.

My #oneword365 for 2018 was “courage”. I thought it would
mean courage to move in new directions, to try new things, and it did, but far
more so, it meant courage to be still.

Take heart, my friends, to enter 2019 with your eyes closed, your breath reaching into your toes, and your heart focused on Jesus’s love for you right now as you take your first steps.

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2 thoughts on “Peace Be With You in 2019”

My year was filled with many disappointments and failures, along with many anxieties about how to fix the mess in which we found ourselves and many anxieties about the future. Through much grief and devastation, the Lord has shown me that my role is to wait upon Him, regain my trust in Him—to accept that He is sovereign and good when my world falls apart and to submit to a plan I cannot see. I’m honestly not there yet, but at least I’m starting to let go of the things that are out of my control. The faith explained in Prov. 3:5 is what I am working out, day by day, hour by hour. Sometimes, it just means remembering His faithfulness in the past or remembering to meditate on His Living Word.
Thanks for posting and blessing others.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will set your paths straight.” – Prov. 3:5&6

My prayers are with you, Leona. Thanks for sharing how Proverbs 3:5-6 have been helping you. Psalm 46 is my favorite and certainly deals with life falling apart but doing just as you are: trusting in the Lord.